Improved buckle



' buckle which will grasp and hold the strap in tween the several holes, besides which it is LUTHER F OGG, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPeovED BUCKLE.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,793, dated June 2, 1863.

and use my invention, I will proceed, with the assistance of the drawings, to describe its construction and operation.

This buckle consists of three essential parts, the frame, the tongue, and the shank, united and operating in a manner that will be fully T0 LZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, LUTHER Foce, of Boston in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Buckle; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure lis a longitudinal section through the buckle and the strap to which it is supposed to be attached. In this figure certain parts of the buckle are lifted from the position they ought properly to occupy, to show more clearly the construction and operation o f the several parts. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the buckle, with the strap to which it is supposed to be attached delineated in red.

The same lettering is used in each ligure to indicate the same parts.

The object of this. invention is to supply a several parts. A

The frame isv designated in the drawings by the letters a. a, b, and b', the tongue by the letter e, and the shank by k. In the plan view,Fi g. 2, the frame'appears square, or nearly so; but by reference to Fig. l, which is a section through the entire buckle, it will be seen that the sides a. a are bent or curved near their center, causing that part toward the end b to form an angle, say, of thirty to forty five degreeswith that part toward b', both of the sides having the same bend or curvature. The front end of the frame has a triangular shape, with the angles or corners rounded off', as shown at b, Fig. 1, the apex of the triangle being above. Itis essential that theinner face of this end piece or bar b should be sloping, as seen in Fig. l, but the outer or front face may be vertical and flat or rounded. The form of the oth er end piece or bar, b, is not material. It may be round, oval, or square. Its section: in Fig. l shows a half-oval. At the bend or angle of the sides a a there is an orifice or round hole to receive the ends ofthe pin or rod h, and near the outer ends a notch or recess, z' t', to receive the lugs or pins f f on the side of the tongue e. The tongue e has also four sides, the front, e, which is flattened out to form the gripper; the back part g, which is rounded to form the pivot of attachment with the shank k, and the two side pieces, as seen in Fig. 2, which connect the end pieces e and g together. On the sides of c, as seen in Fig. 2, are lugs or pins ff, that fall into the notches or recess t' i in the sides a a of the frame. The front edge of e, thatgrips the strap, I prefer to bevel or groove, as seen in Fig. l. Each side piece, it will be seen, has a hole or passage through it for the pivot or rod h, which forms the connection between the frame and the tongue. The shank lc is merely a flat strip of bra-ss, copper, or other appropriate the iirmest manner without requiring or producing a perforation of its substance, and capable ot' being manipulated with great promptness and facility. Buckles with teeth or points penetrating the substance of the strap necessarily soon weaken it by cutting and separating the fibers or substance of the strap. In straps with holes cut or punched at certain regular distances apart to receive the point of the tongue of the buckle, it is evident that, besides the injury done to the strength of the strap by these cuts or holes, the tension of the strap 4itself must necessarily be inter- -mittcnt and dependent upon the distance bealways necessary to draw the strap beyond the limits of its subsequent tension to enable the tongue to enter the orices prepared for its reception, and to repeat the same operation when the strap is to be loosened or removed. By my invention these objectionable features to all ordinary buckles are entirely removed. The stra-p with one hand can be drawn just to the tension required, where it will be held firmly and immovably for the time required without any injury to the strap, and when it is necessary to loosen it a slight movement disengages the grasp of the buckle and entirely frees the strap.

To enable others skilled in the art to make forated with one or more rivet-holes for the at set forth in and with the description of these material, bent back upon itself land aroundl the posterior part, g, of the tongue, and pertachment ofthe buckle tothe strap. Ot' course, the pipe formed by the bending of the shank 7.- around g must be large and loose enough to allow the latter to rotate freely.

The letters s s s s indicate the strap to which the buckle is supposed to be attached, and theline .fr zr of Fig. 2 that of the section represented in Fig. l.

instead of the connecting-rod IL, pinsu may be made upon the sides of the tongue e, to be received in cavities or perforations in thesides of the flame or the pins maybe on the frame, to be received into perforations `or cavitiesin the sides of the tongue. In either of"these cases it is only necessary to spring out the sides a a of theframe until the pins can enter their respective cavities, when the sides `will close or may be made to close back to their proper position.

In all buckles heretofore constructed composed of three parts-to wit, the frame, the tongue and the shank, each a distinct part of the whole"there is but one line of actionor one center of motionthat is, the frame, the tongue, and the shank all play upon one axis. In this improve-d buckle it will be yseen that there are two lines of motion, and consequently two axes-one between the frame and tongue, the other between the tongue and shank. New, from this construction it is evident that if the fore part of the tongue ebe thrown up, say, forty-tive or even ninety degrees the length ofthe arcdescrihed by h will be much less than that described by the anterior edge of e, and that consequently a largeand free opening will occur between this anterior edge and the `posterior side of the front bar, b', of the frame for the passage ofthe end of the strap. When this is done, the first eli'ect of a draw upon the strap willbe to bring the frame forward and recessarily, from its connection with the tongue through the pivot h, to bring the tongue down to nearly a horizontal position, and in Contact with the strap. Whatever additional strain may be put upon the strap willonly tend to bring the tongue more nearly to a horizontal position, and by this lessening the distance between the tongue and the face ofthe bar b to increase the grip or grasp of the buckle. I/Vhen the draw upon the strap for tightening it is suspendedand the whole strain thrown upon the tongue, this latter, as it is made somewh at shorter than the distance between the pivot h and the posterior face of b', might be drawn through and allow the escape of the strap, if there were no provision for such an occurrence; but this is provided for in the lugs or points ff of the tongue and the recesses or notch es ii of the sides a a ofthe frame. It ls obvious that when these lugs or points are brought down firmly into these notches or recesses the tongue can go no farther, and this occurring when the buckle is exercising its most powerful grip upon the strap, no escape of this can take place without arupture or break of it or the buckle.

Instead of having the lugs ff on thetongue, they might be placed on the sides a a. of the frame, and the notches in the tongue, or abar might be extended entirely across from one of the sides, a, to the other. These, however, are merely mechanical modifications, involving no new idea or effect. If the front or gripping edge of the tongue were merely tlat or rounded, a powerful strain upon the strap might draw it through and loosen it. For that reason I prefer to groove or bevel this part, as shown.

The edges of this groove or bevel should not be sharp enough to cut the strap, and the groove only deep enough to allow them to make a strong indentation, as the edge over which the strap plays on the bar bis rounded and smooth. If the gripping'edge of the tongue be properly constructed, the wear of the strap will be vei y slight, even from long and constant use.

When it is wished to unbuckle the strap, it is only necessary to draw or tighten this a little, pressing it at the same time against the edge of thetongue, which, in rising, rotates upon the axis g, and consequently opens sut'- ticient space between the edge ot' the tongue `and the bar b to allow the loosened strap to pass freely through.

This operation is so simple that one hand alone is sufficient to accomplish it.

The objects obtained by giving the back or posterior part of the frame an upward curve or bend are twofold z First, it thereby becomes a strong, always open, and easily-used loop to hold the free end of the strap; second, it may be used for unbuckling the strap by drawing it slightly back, which will oblige the edge of the tongue to rise, and thus liberate the strap, the same motion of the tongue taking place as that described when the strap is used for this purpose.

It is obvious that the tongue might be made of one entire sheet, with lugs at the posterior corners and a rod connecting them for forming the attachment to the shank, and a passage through it (thetongue) for the rod or pivot l. I do not deem this, however, any better arrangement than the one` already described.

Having thus fully described the construction and operation of my invention, I claim therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- A buckle composed of a frame, shank, and grooved tongue that is jointed `both .to the frame and shank, in combination with the `notches i i and lugs ff, constructed and arranged as herein described.

LUTHER FOGG.

Witnesses:

DAVID I). KIMBALL, Gno. H. PRESTON. 

